The present invention relates to a skate with aligned wheels.
A first conventional type of skate with aligned wheels has a support for an item of footgear from which a pair of longitudinal shoulders protrudes. A plurality of aligned wheels is freely pivoted transversely between the longitudinal shoulders.
This first known type of skate has some problems: the fact that the aligned wheels are pivoted in a fixed manner to the pair of shoulders entails direct transmission to the item of footgear of all the stresses due to the bumps which occur on the ground and encountered during sports practice, with consequent discomfort for the user.
The structural rigidity of this known solution also entails the transmission of vibrations to the item of footgear, and thus to the legs of the user, which penalize his sports performance.
A sports implement predominantly used by skiers for summer practice on roads is also known; it is constituted by a support for an item of footgear from which a frame protrudes downward and centrally. The ends of two pairs of wheel supporting trucks are independently pivoted to the frame, and the head of a screw with a threaded stem is connected to the support in the interspace between two adjacent wheels. A complementarily threaded nut is associated with the stem and abuts on the ground-facing surface of a connecting element which is arranged transversely to each pair of trucks. A cylindrical helical compression spring is arranged coaxially to the stem.
This known type, illustrated in the Italian patent application No. 21821 B/85, allows, by adjusting the spring compression, to vary the angle formed between each pair of wheel supporting trucks and the ground.
In this type, the adjustment of the degree of compression of the spring allows only to vary the condition of use of the implement while practicing slalom: in fact, when the spring is at its minimum setting, i.e. when the spring is not compressed, it is possible to achieve easy use for the practice of slalom, but while pushing forward and while covering straight stretches the implement yields causing a considerable deterioration of the athletic performance.
When the spring is gradually compressed, the outermost wheels of the truck pairs rise and thus separate from the ground by a more or less significant distance. This condition can improve the use of the implement while practicing slalom, but this again entails a non-optimum and thus unstable condition during straight stretches and therefore in the practice of speed skating, and in any case all the vibrations due to impacts against bumps which protrude from the ground or due to uneven parts thereof are transmitted to the item of footgear and thus to the legs of the user.